Izzo has been reminding the team of the importance of defense to championships and the Spartans did a remarkable job of shutting down the athletic, talented, Tennessee Volunteers, winning 70-69.

While I’m not [...]]]> Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo has lead the Spartans to the NCAA Final Four for the sixth time in 12 years.

Izzo has been reminding the team of the importance of defense to championships and the Spartans did a remarkable job of shutting down the athletic, talented, Tennessee Volunteers, winning 70-69.

While I’m not going to go into details of the game, I am going to go out on a limb and speculate. This team is not going to win the National Championship.

The Spartans’ best player, Kalin Lucas, is not playing. And even if they get through Butler, they’ll find themselves facing exceptionally talented teams in West Virginia or Duke. Heart and great defense can get you to the Final Four. The jury is still out on whether it’s enough to best Coach K.

The Spartans play fifth-seeded Butler on April 3 at 6 p.m. The championship game is April 5.

Here’s a link to the Detroit Free Press’ photo gallery.

And here’s a link to the Freep’s coverage of the game.

Niklas Kronwall – that’s right … defenseman Niklas Kronwall – scored the winning goal in the shootout against Predators goalie Pekka Rinne.

Overall, the game was more than a solid effort from the entire [...]]]> The Detroit Red Wings won a close-fought, playoff-style hockey game in the 11th round of a shootout against the Nashville Predators last night.

Niklas Kronwall – that’s right … defenseman Niklas Kronwall – scored the winning goal in the shootout against Predators goalie Pekka Rinne.

Overall, the game was more than a solid effort from the entire team. There was little evidence that the Wings players are any less than fully healthy. And there were few signs that players were mentally tired as they had been for most of the season.

In addition, the WIngs have started making a case, and it’s not a hard case to make, for Jimmy Howard as a front-runner for the NHL’s Calder Trophy, which is given to the league’s best rookie each season. In fact, a strong case could be made for Howard as the league’s MVP, though it is highly doubtful that the MVP award will slip away from Alexander Overchin of the Washington Capitals, who is having, by anyone’s account, a remarkable season.

The win did wonders for helping the Wings secure a playoff position for this year. They are now in sixth place, eight points about ninth-place Calgary. However, Calgary has a game in hand and plays on Sunday.

If the playoffs started today, the Wings would pack their bags and head to Vancouver to play the Canucks and their Olympic gold-medal-winning goalie Roberto Luongo.

Obviously, with seven games left in the season, and just a couple of points separating positions five through eight, there is going to be a lot of shuffling in the west. The Wings are in a good spot. They have a light travel schedule and play against the Columbus Blue Jackets twice. If for some reason they don’t make the playoffs at this point, there would be no one to blame beside the 22 players wearing the winged wheel each night.

In a 6-2 whipping of a team, there is always plenty [...]]]> The Detroit Red Wings continued their hot streak and commitment to making this 2010 playoffs with a 6-2 home win over the Minnesota Wild last night. The Wings started off the night by sprinting to a 4-0 lead with 8:37 left in the second period.

In a 6-2 whipping of a team, there is always plenty of good news to talk about. The first piece of good news is Johan Franzen, who came away with two goals and two assists. The next piece of good news is Henrik Zetterberg. Zetterberg has been the team’s best player over the past few games. And while he was overshadowed by Franzen’s four points, he appears healthy and highly engaged … hopefully ready for a deep run in the playoffs. And the third is Jimmy Howard. Howard has been playing well. But he now appears to be playing with a bit of confidence and a bit of swagger. He’s rebounding from soft goals quickly and he’s seeing the puck well.

The win puts the Wings six points above the Calgary Flames with eight games left. And they’re only two points, with a game in hand, behind Nashville, who currently sits in fifth place in the West.

It’s hockey, right?

Well, we thought we’d seen this before … but we hadn’t. In yesterday’s road game against the Vancouver Canucks, the Wings [...]]]> We’ve seen this before. The Red Wings put in a better-than-solid performance with few missteps and lots of shots on goal. Still, they end up short.

It’s hockey, right?

Well, we thought we’d seen this before … but we hadn’t. In yesterday’s road game against the Vancouver Canucks, the Wings showed they are still a force in this year’s playoff.

With .02 seconds left in overtime, Henrik Zetterberg nailed a backhand shot behind Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo to give the Wings a 4-3 win.

This is significant for a few reasons. First, it gives the Wings two points out of last night’s game. They’re still in eight place in the Western Conference playoff hunt, but they now have a two-point cushion on Calgary. And, it helps them keep pace with Nashville, who are currently four points ahead of the Wings.

So, does this game mean that the Wings are a lock to make the playoffs? Far from it. But they showed a tremendous amount of determination and will to grab two points last night. And that may be the determining factor on whether they make it to this year’s postseason.

At one point, they were up on Maryland by 16 points. But once point guard Kalin Lucas went down (and out of the game with an obviously serious injury), the Spartans lead evaporated.

In fact, the Spartans found themselves [...]]]> The MSU Spartans hung around for a two point victory against the University of Maryland Terrapins last night.

At one point, they were up on Maryland by 16 points. But once point guard Kalin Lucas went down (and out of the game with an obviously serious injury), the Spartans lead evaporated.

In fact, the Spartans found themselves behind with 35 seconds left. Then they came back. And they found themselves trailing by one point with six seconds left in the game.

Backup guard Korie Lucious, a sophmore, saved the game and the season for the Spartans. He sunk a 3-pointer from above the top of the key at the buzzer, giving Michigan State an 85-83 victory.

Next steps for the Spartans (26-8), is the Midwest Regional in St. Louis, where they’ll play ninth-seeded Northern Iowa, which upset No. 1 Kansas on Saturday. If second-seeded Ohio State beats sixth-seeded Tennessee in the other regional semifinal, there could be an all-Big Ten regional final.

Read about the game at the New York Times.

Still, Wolverine fans can take cold comfort in a 2-1 win over 17th ranked Northern Michigan University in the CHHA tournament at Joe Louis Arena.

University of Michigan fans are already hoping for a better football season and licking their wounds from a basketball season that showed occasional glimmers of hope.

Still, Wolverine fans can take cold comfort in a 2-1 win over 17th ranked Northern Michigan University in the CHHA tournament at Joe Louis Arena.

Even better, this tournament win means that the Wolverines will get an automatic berth in the NCAA Hockey tournament. The tournament starts next weekend with the regional semifinals and finals taking place March 26-28.

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The Spartans played a tremendously uneven game. At times they were brilliant and at other times they were sloppy. This is exactly how this team has played all year.

A highlight for the Spartans was Kalin [...]]]> The Michigan State Spartans survived to play another day in the 2010 NCAA tournament.

The Spartans played a tremendously uneven game. At times they were brilliant and at other times they were sloppy. This is exactly how this team has played all year.

A highlight for the Spartans was Kalin Lucas’ career-high 25 points.

The Spartans are now getting ready to play the University of Maryland Terrapins on Sunday afternoon.